The 7-minute black-and-white romance was one of two shorts backed by a major studio this year.

The other was Fox's "Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare,'" which follows the youngest member of the Simpson clan through a day of misadventures.

That film was directed by David Silverman, who has helmed many episodes of the hit TV show "The Simpsons" as well as 2007's "The Simpsons Movie."

In addition to "The Longest Daycare," "Paperman" beat out "Adam and Dog," a tale of the world's first man and dog befriending each other in the Garden of Eden; "Fresh Guacamole," a surreal stop-motion film in which household objects are sliced and diced into the eponymous green dip; and "Head Over Heels," a tale of a marriage literally turned upside-down (the husband lives on the floor, the wife on the ceiling).

"Paperman" also won the equivalent Annie Award on Feb. 2.

The 85th Academy Awards are being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday night, in a televised ceremony hosted by Seth MacFarlane.